Except for Meissner's remarkable LP at 2006 Worlds, I think Emily has done a pretty good job of keeping up with Kimmie internationally.

At the Olympics Kimmie was 6th, Emily 7th. In the Grand Prix, Kimmie got 4th at Trophee Eric Bompard and 4th at NHK, while Emily got 4th at Skate America and 4th at Cup of Russia. On the tie-breaker, Kimmie was ranked 14th and Emily 15th in the final GP standings.

14th and 15th, by GP points maybe. But look at the difference in ACTUAL POINTS scored. Kimmie scored 307.90 total points, while Emily scored only 252.54. Pointwise, Kimmie had the 10th highest total points scored, Emily 19th highest.

Emily lucked out by drawing into two much easier competitions than Kimmie. At both SA and CoR, there were numerous withdrawals so that the fields were way watered down from their original rosters. Kimmie skated at TEB, probably the toughest competition of last year's GP, and at NHK, a fiercely competitive event which decided who would go to the GPF and who would not.

Kimmie:
TEB - 155.72 beaten by Asada (182.42), Cohen (175.12), Arakawa (173.3), Rochette (167.72). TEB was so tough that their finishes there kept Arakawa and Rochette out of the GPF.
NHK - 152.18 beaten by Nakano (158.66), Suguri (158.48), Liashenko (156.52), Ando (154.34). This was a very tight competition with only 6.5 points separating 1st and 5th.

Kimmie would have won bronze at both SA and COR with her TEB or NHK scores, while Emily would have finished eighth at TEB with her SA and CoR scores, and 8th at NHK with her SA score, 10th with her CoR score.

The big difference between Kimmie and Emily competitively was that Emily dropped off quite a bit after her surprisingly successful Olympic performances, while Kimmie improved on hers. Emily bombed her Worlds SP after finishing 3rd in her QR group, and her FS was flat and devoid of energy, barely edging Joannie Rochette's disastrous FS. Kimmie built on her top-6 Torino performance and won the World championship, while Emily had to settle for 8th place.

Emily has a pleasant personality, but all the Ta-Da's in the world won't make up for barely muscled-through combinations and failed or doubled jumps.

Emily

I'm thinking that Meissner got so much accolade, parties, parades, interviews, I think she even rang the bell at the New York Stock Exchange, she has so much pressure on her and will fold. Hughes with mere mentions in skating mags, dodged that bullet and she can start with a clean slate, much better position.

I'm always the one who doesn't want her to put on any more weight. I agree with the person who said, she's not going to take any off, she's used to that weight. But it's a matter of physics. What is it, one pound takes off 6 centimeters of jumping height?

However, Hughes has the cultural background. That's aside from her will to succeed and her competitiveness. Between the two, I choose Emily. Hands down. Now, Taylor, Liang can be a threat, and the twin from Ohio, I wish them well, certainly. But I think Emily has it.

Mere mentions in skating mags? Emily Hughes was featured on the front page of the NY Times Sunday Magazine section, before she even won a medal at Nationals, and every Olympic figure skating article in the Times heavily featured Hughes as a medal threat with little or no mention of Meissner. The NY Times didn't even do a real story on Meissner when she won Worlds.

Meissner has been competing at the international level since the 2004 season and she has learned to handle the pressure. Hughes was the one who folded at Worlds, not Meissner.

BTW, Amber Czisny's career as a promising singles skater derailed a year or so ago because of a foot injury. She decided to take up ice dancing, but as far as I know she has competed only in solo dance events so far. Does anyone know if she has a partner?

The Czisnys are from Bowling Green, Ohio, and have trained in Michigan for the majority of their skating careers. I don't see Amber's name listed for any Solo Dance events at the Lake Placid competition this week, and I haven't heard if she is still training (I always enjoyed her singles skating which was a very different style from Alissa's; Amber was also a *great* spinner who sometimes included a reverse spins in her programs).

Note to chuckm: Emily Hughes is from New York and so the NY Times Sunday magazine feature article on her last fall was not surprising to me. Meissner is from the Baltimore area and her remarkable accomplishments have been extensively covered by the Baltimore Sun newspaper. IMO, there's no need to denigrate what Emily Hughes has been able to accomplish in her first 2 seasons as a senior level skater.

Mere mentions in skating mags? Emily Hughes was featured on the front page of the NY Times Sunday Magazine section, before she even won a medal at Nationals, and every Olympic figure skating article in the Times heavily featured Hughes as a medal threat with little or no mention of Meissner. The NY Times didn't even do a real story on Meissner when she won Worlds.

Ha! That's so funny. Here in Maryland they did the exact opposite...hyped Meissner almost to the hilt and hardly mentioned Hughes or even Cohen.

Oh yeah? Well, Bowling Green, Ohio, is rightfully part of Michigan. We lost it in the Toledo War of 1836.

In exchange Pres. Andrew Jackson gave us a big chunk of Wisconsin, now Michigan's Upper Peninsula.

And a good thing it was, too, because Michigan --the Wolverine State -- doesn't have any wolverines, but Wisconsin does (or did, in 1836). So instead of the University of Michigan Wolverines we would have had to choose a stupid nickname like the Buckeyes.

Note to chuckm: Emily Hughes is from New York and so the NY Times Sunday magazine feature article on her last fall was not surprising to me. Meissner is from the Baltimore area and her remarkable accomplishments have been extensively covered by the Baltimore Sun newspaper. IMO, there's no need to denigrate what Emily Hughes has been able to accomplish in her first 2 seasons as a senior level skater.

Emily had not yet won a Senior level medal when she got the cover of the NY Times Magazine (and a long article, as well). It WAS surprising to me, because nothing remotely similar had ever been done by the NY Times for Sarah (prior to her big win), and Sarah had won a World medal and multiple US medals before winning the OGM. Yes, Sarah got front page coverage in a major newsmagazine, but then she was considered a legitimate OGM contender, having beaten Slutskaya and Kwan early in the season. But the NY TImes was more interested in Kwan and Cohen than Hughes at the time.

I am sure the Baltimore papers have covered Kimmie, but then Kimmie had won her second US medal and the World Championship. What is odd to me is that the NY Times barely mentioned Kimmie's WC win. The Times has covered Sasha and Michelle extensively and in depth, win or lose, in the past, and those ladies are West Coast skaters. I felt that was denigrating Kimmie's astounding accomplishment.

My intention was not to tear down Emily, but to rebut statements by others that Emily and Kimmie were on a level playing field accomplishments-wise. I do not see it that way, sorry.

Can someone tell me what is wrong with hype? It doesn't bring in any medals. Judges are oblivious to it. The only hype I ever objected to was the paid for hype of the Lipinsky family while their daughter got a silver medal in junior girls. Wow, what a feat. Other than that one, I kind of like the hype of Emily and Kimmie. I wish Bebe would get some hype.

The story of Emily, as I see it, she showed promise in Portland. Excepting the dreaded GPs the following year because she was quite ill, she really hasn't rose to the level of Kimmie yet. Maybe this season,. JMO.

I can't, thre more attention the better - 90% of the time. There will always be corrupt judges popping up once and a while. This sport needs more attention. And even the negative can get more people interested - not promoting negative, but I am sick of empty seats. Here I am looking at moving to Sun Valley, and the COI got canceld there / Boise . That is just wrong! Sun Valley has a pretty good rep for FS, heck Abbott and Costello even did a flick on it, which featured a good deal, there are "champions skating there all the time...bla bla. That is part of the reason I am considering Idaho. Colorado Springs has nice attactions, but try living there.

No more stinking cancellations. I will take Hype if it means more interest.